The buying and selling of property typically involves players of varying skill and experience that are unable to interact in ways that optimize the real estate market. Project developers, for example, have extensive experience in buying and selling property. However, due to travel and communication limitations existing in the real estate market to date, these entities are unable to advertise to many sellers and buyers who may be interested in the developers' properties. The inability to determine market players' preferences prevents developers from reaching a large market without wasting advertising dollars on disinterested individuals. Often, announcements of new projects do not reach the parties who are willing to pay top dollar for the new houses. These and other common scenarios result in lost revenue to project developers.
Other players in the real estate market, such as individual sellers and buyers, have either sold or bought only one or two properties and often do not have the experience necessary to avoid paying a higher price for a property than the market is willing to bear or selling a property at a lower price than the market is willing to bear. These inexperienced players also fall victim to rapidly fluctuating market conditions. Unfortunately, many buyers settle for a property in which they are not particularly interested in because time constraints and physical limitations prevent them from exploring all of their purchasing options. Similarly, many sellers agree to sell to low-bidding buyers because of outside pressures that prevent them from holding out for a higher bid. In addition, unless they spend many hours in research, these individuals are rarely aware of major events and trends in the real estate market that would affect their purchasing or selling decision. They are unaware of available tools and are unaware of how to effectively use those tools. Even if the decision to sell or buy is a sound one, the process of submitting and tracking loan applications can be a daunting task given the myriad legal requirements.
Middlemen, such as real estate brokers, are skilled at negotiating property transactions between buyers and sellers. However, even with access to many resources, brokers are unable to reach all of the interested players. Typically, a real estate broker is negotiating a deal that is likely to fail, while inadvertently foregoing deals that are more likely to succeed. Many factors contribute to this scenario, such as lack of communication, lack of knowledge about the parties' needs, and inability to effectively manage appointments. Buyers who may be interested in a property become disinterested when faced with inconvenience and lack of information. These factors weigh against real estate brokers to reduce potential commissions.
Therefore, there is a need to enhance existing systems and method for assisting the buying and selling of property.